Theme: Love & Character

Now that Coffee & Tea is up, I had to do a bit of review. What a whirlwind month. I’m delighted by the results. I have to admit when I started this I had no idea where it would take me. I only had 2 things stubbornly in mind. To paint daily. To paint fast. To type whatever silly ol thing came to my head and hoped that by the end of the month I hadn’t lost friends/subscribers in the creative chaos.

So many surprises. The project has exceeded my expectations entirely. So has my audience. I’ve been emotional more than once reading an email, poem or share note tossed around on Facebook. And ideas from subscribers, like this one:

“…clouds sipping or pouring their drinks, either adding fluff to one’s latte or possibly a barista cloud caught conversing/not paying attention while frothing the milk, which inevitably overflows into more clouds…” ~ Lené Gary

We’ve been on some fun adventures together in the coffee and tea world. From Buddhist eyelash creation tea stories to whale and teapot steam spout activities in the Atlantic Sea—and the simple pleasure of painting a slice of Seattle to learn the exact date the Public Market was born. The stories went back and forth between tea and coffee but also between non-sensical wild whacky fiction to fact finding creative non fiction. Who knew? I sure didn’t. Also, ripples have occurred. Leah Armstrong in Italy via Italian Reflections wrote a review titled, Vivid, Fun, Fanciful, Paintings – a nice surprise. And Diana Dawn hosts a radio show in the Bay Area. For those of you who missed that, here is the recording {Some Like it Hot}. I’m the queen of non-sequitors in this guest appearance. Listen at your own risk. 😉

While January was all about getting habitized and efficient. February will call for a different kind of concentration. To capture the essence, gesture, soul, love in a scene or face, costume or kiss (do you have any idea how hard it is to draw two faces smooshed into each other?). January’s theme was very concrete, Coffee & Tea, February’s theme is a tad more dramatic and challenging for yours truly. But what did Gretchen Rubin say so eloquently? “Challenge and novelty create expansion and happiness.” I have found that true so far. I’m excited. To be drawing, painting, thinking and imagining again at this intensity is a big ol life-kick-in-the-butt. It’s like I’ve just had a baby and getting very little sleep. Exhausted, but happy as a clam.

Thank you again subscribers. I didn’t know how much I needed your creative energy, support and insight until I got into this.